Bastille Takes to the Road with ‘Wild World’

“We made this slightly mad album and we wanted to take it out on the road," says frontman Dan Smith.July 25, 2017 6:55 PMSponsored By Apothic Wines

By Scott T. Sterling

“We made this slightly mad album and we wanted to take it out on the road. It’s the first time we were ever able to think of a tour as its own self-contained piece of, for want of a less pretentious word, art.”

That’s how Bastille frontman Dan Smith summarizes the “Wild, Wild World Tour,” with the band collaborating with Apothic Wines to create a singular take on a concert tour.

“It’s a very surreal way to live your life. There aren’t evenings, there aren’t weekends. Often you’re traveling at night on the bus, and then you’re out in the day doing shows. It’s quite dislocating, and it’s an odd, surreal way to exist for a bit,” Smith explains of life of the road alongside Apothic, the tour’s Wine of Choice. “It’s obviously really fun as well. I think this time we were like, embrace the variety from day to day, and embrace being in situations that are new and different.”

With the band hitting the road in support of sophomore album, Wild World, Smith and the rest of Bastille wanted to be sure and maximize the opportunity to give their fans something special every night, starting with the music. “Making a second record that’s a bit weirder, after quite the successful first album, it was potentially a bold choice,” he admits. “We felt empowered by the success of our first record to push the things that we really enjoyed in music. There are still songs with big melodies, but we wanted the production to be way more varied and a bit more challenging.”

Apothic Wines, known for their enthralling and bold red blends, is an ideal partner for such a unique tour as this. Teaming with them provided the perfect accompaniment; just the kind of distinct experiences Smith and Bastille wanted to offer the dedicated fans that come out for each show. “I would much rather have done something that was slightly mad and odd and a bit different and maybe the first time that someone has done something. I’d rather do that and feel really proud of it than just like, ‘oh, we’ve just done another gig.’”